PORTLAND, Ore., March 18 (UPI) -- An Oregon attorney told a Multnomah County jury the Boy Scouts of America should have foreseen the danger posed by pedophiles in its ranks.
The (Portland) Oregonian said attorney Kelly Clark, who is representing one of the alleged victims of those suspected pedophiles, used his opening statement in the $14 million civil suit Wednesday to accuse the Boy Scouts of allowing those suspects to continue interacting with young boys.
"Those decisions led naturally, predictably and foreseeably to the abuse of boys like" his client, Clark alleged.
The lawsuit is focused on the alleged abuse of Clark's client, identified only as Jack Doe, at the hands of former assistant Scoutmaster Timur Dykes.
The suit names the Boy Scouts and the Cascade Pacific Council in Oregon as co-defendants.
The Oregonian said attorney Charles T. Smith, who is representing the Boy Scouts, used his opening statement to claim his client's attempts to protect children were hindered by the movements of child molesters.
"They go from state to state. And they change their names or their birth dates or they do something to try to slip back in," Smith said of the actions of convicted molesters.
